Stagliano and Evil Angel pioneered the Gonzo pornography genre in the late 1980s.[1][2] Several of the most acclaimed pornographic film directors have worked for Evil Angel, and its films have won numerous awards.[3][4]

It has been described as "the top porn-film producer" in the U.S,[5] as one of the handful of companies which dominate the distribution of hardcore pornographic films in the U.S.,[6] and as one of the most profitable porn studios.[7][8]

The company's rise to prominence was fueled by the industry switch from film to videotape. In the late 1970s a feature-length porn film shot on celluloid--usually 35mm--might have cost as much as $350,000.[9] In 1983 the VCR had been recently introduced, and producers were beginning to make pornographic films on videotape. A film using video could be made for as little as $5,000, compared to a minimum of $40,000 for a movie shot on film. Into the 1990s, by shooting its productions with video cameras, Evil Angel could still make films for $8,000.[9] Stagliano initially had little knowledge of filmmaking, but he made his first movie for $8,000 in 1983: Bouncing Buns, starring Stacy Donovan. For the next six years he shot films for other companies to manufacture and distribute.[10]

In 1989 he started Evil Angel, to sell his own films. The origin of the company's name goes back to when Stagliano was working as a stripper: "There was another guy in one of my shows named John. So this MC started calling me Evil John to differentiate us. This was when I was doing Dracula and chains. At the same time I had a girlfriend who called herself Angel when she did strip shows. She was a very nasty girl and I suggested that she call herself Evil Angel. She didn't, but I loved the name and wound up using it for my company."[10]

The first Evil Angel film was Dance Fire, filmed in 1988 by Stagliano, starring himself, Trinity Loren, Brandy Alexandre and others. It would only be released on DVD 20 years later.[11] Influenced by amateur pornography, In 1989 Stagliano hit on the idea of performing in a film while also operating the camera, so that the viewer experiences the film through the eyes of his character. The first-person perspective was influenced by the 1960s film Blowup.[12] At the time this was in contrast to the majority of porn, which tended not to make viewers aware of the camera.[13] This technique is today known as Point of view pornography. He formed his Buttman persona, and shot Adventures of Buttman.[14] The early Buttman films were written, produced, directed, edited, shot and manufactured personally by Stagliano.[15] The first two Buttman films had lengthy scripts, but the series soon evolved into an improvised, spontaneous format. In contrast to his earlier work and the standard porn of the time, Stagliano did not link each scene together to form a conventional narrative. At times the camerawork was shaky.[13] Partly due to his lack of funds, he didn't use elaborate sets or locations. At the time porn films had a traditional storyline, with sex scenes interspersed with dialogue by performers with little acting ability. Instead of that format, Stagliano chose to film "one sex scene which has a beginning, a middle and ends at a climax. Trying to make all that relate to a bigger story is very difficult and creates all sorts of problems that get in the way of making the best scene possible."[10] The distinct style of the early Evil Angel films would be widely imitated, and would come to be known as Gonzo pornography.[16][15]

In the 1990s Stagliano became one of the most successful figures in the American pornographic film industry.[17] In 1990 Patrick Collins and Stagliano founded the Elegant Angel label as a subsidiary of Evil Angel.[2][18] In 1991 Stagliano established a production subsidiary in São Paulo, Brazil.[19] By 1993 the company was producing a new videotape every three weeks, and was grossing more than $1 million a year;[20] in 1996 it sold approximately half a million videos.[8] In the mid-'90s the company started using the phrase "The Evil Empire" on its box covers, in reference to its growing stable of directors.[4] In 1996 Collins established Elegant Angel as a separate company, and in 1998 it ended all cooperation with Evil Angel.[2][21] His departure from Evil Angel has been called "less than amicable", and he and Stagliano are apparently "ex-friend[s]".[21] At the time Collins said that Stagliano "couldn't run a business, and would fail without him".[21] According to Stagliano, "Patrick's a bully . . . he wasn't doing his job properly . . . I should have fired him years ago".[21]

A 1997 U.S. News and World Report investigation identified Evil Angel as the most profitable pornographic studio.[8] In 2007 the studio received 127 AVN Award nominations in 60 categories, making it the fourth year in a row in which it received more than 100 nominations.[22] In 2008 EA won 18 AVN awards. Stagliano won the "Best Director - Video" award for Fashionistas Safado: Berlin.[23]

In August 2007 Evil Angel and Jules Jordan prevailed in a DVD piracy case against Kaytel Video Distribution and several other defendants, winning a total of over $17.5 million, which was the largest sum ever awarded in an adult piracy case.[24] Evil Angel was awarded $11.2 million and Jordan $5.3 million. EA had originally filed the lawsuit in November 2005.[25]

On April 8, 2008, Evil Angel and Stagliano were indicted on federal obscenity charges by a federal grand jury in Washington, DC.[26][27] Films named in the obscenity charges included Storm Squirters 2 by Joey Silvera, Milk Nymphos by Jay Sin and a trailer for Belladonna: Fetish Fanatic 5.[26][28] Stagliano and Evil Angel were represented by Al Gelbard, who successfully defended JM Productions owner Jeff Steward in a 2007 obscenity case.[26] The company released a compilation DVD entitled Defend Our Porn, with proceeds going towards its legal defense fund, and set up the DefendOurPorn.org website to provide information on the legal proceedings.[28]

In December 2008 the BBC reported that Stagliano and Evil Angel were a client of UK lawyers Davenport Lyons who were seeking financial redress from people they asserted had downloaded copyright material using Peer to Peer software.[29]

The company differs from most other porn studios in that it contracts with in-house directors and permits them to own the films that they create, while Evil Angel handles the film's manufacture, distribution, promotion and sales and takes a percentage of the gross sales.[30][31] Each director has his own particular style and is a star in his own right, with his own brand identity.[32] Stagliano adopted this business model due to his previous experience selling his videos to other companies. He found it difficult to establish his reputation when someone else owned his content, and he didn't receive any more money if a film sold well.[33]

Gregory Dark left VCA over "creative differences" in the summer of 1995 and launched his own film company, Dark Works, with Evil Angel Video handling all distribution.[39] His first film for Evil Angel was Sex Freaks, starring Stephanie Swift, Nyrobi Knights, Lovette and Tom Byron.[40] He also worked on Snake Pit and The Best Of Gregory Dark.[41] Dark has since stopped directing for the studio.

Jules Jordan formerly directed for Evil Angel, producing series including Ass Worship.[28] In 2006 he left to form his own company, Jules Jordan Video.[42]

Stagliano has directed several series for the studio. By 2003 almost 30 entries in the Buttman series had been produced, some of them shot in locations including New Zealand, Prague (Czech Republic), San Diego and London.[15] The premise of most of the films is Stagliano approaching a woman and persuading her to show him her buttocks, followed by their having sex. The films blurred the boundary between what was a pre-arranged set-up and what was real.[46] It has also been turned into a comic-book.[47]

John Leslie had a successful career as an actor, then began directing for VCA Pictures in the mid-'80s. The first film he directed for Evil Angel was The Dog Walker in 1994, after its script had been rejected by VCA.[34]Rocco Siffredi began working as a director for the company in 1994.[citation needed]

Belladonna was first introduced to Stagliano by her then-boyfriend Nacho Vidal. Evil Angel is the exclusive distributor of titles under the Belladonna Entertainment and Deadly Nightshade Productions labels.[citation needed] Jay Sin started directing for Buttman Magazine Choice in early 2007, working on films including Milk Nymphos 2, then became an EA director in January 2008.[49]

Sin is known for his extreme anal pornography, more recently including rectal prolapse in some of his videos.[50] Many of his videos also feature women inserting objects such as oranges and baseballs into their rectums, then pushing the objects back out. Sin calls his films "artistic" and states that porn for him is "a way of life"[51]